Nicole: So I started a long term substitute teaching assignment at Dona Merced Elementary in 2nd grade. There was this SUPER nice teacher on my team that took me under her wing and helped me figure out how to be a successful teacher in 2nd grade. However, she just would not stop talking about her youngest son. *eyeroll* Nolan: My mom kept talking about this young teacher that joined her grade level as a long term substitute. It was a lot of "you would really like her" and "you might know her". I didn't exactly view my mom as the best "wing-man" to find a girl for me so I didn't really put much into it at first. Finally my mom stopped talking about her but had already shown me her Facebook page and I thought she was pretty cute so I decided to reach out to her with the help of social media, more specifically Facebook Messenger. Nicole: I was getting ready for my interview for my 1st REAL teaching job, when I got this Facebook message from this guy named, Nolan Sieger wishing me good luck on my interview. *eyeroll again*. Jeez, that meddling mom finally got her way and her son is messaging me. We started talking through Facebook messenger, and I started realizing that this guy was kinda awesome. Nolan: I wished Nicole the best of luck on her interview and we had a decent length conversation on Facebook before it finally got to the time where we exchanged digits (big move, right?). I was going on our annual Spring Training baseball trip with my dad and brothers at the time so we were texting for most of the trip. One night after a few games, and beers, I purchased a Jackie Robinson Brooklyn Dodgers jersey and sent her the picture of the jersey I bought. I knew she was an Angels fan so I wasn't expecting much of a response but she basically said "That's freakin' awesome!" and my interest officially peaked. At that point, I asked if she wanted to go out when I got back into town. I'm pretty sure you all can guess how that went. Nicole: I said yes to the first date!

Nicole: On our first date I started it out by taking a picture of Nolan's license plate, you know just in case he was an axe murderer. My mom and I were joking about it before he picked me up, and instead of being normal and NOT doing it, I did! (I'm pretty sure that's when he fell in love with me ;) ) Nolan: For some reason I was even more nervous than usual to walk up to Nicole's door when I went to pick her up. It was earlier in the evening ( I was not used to early dinners...) after work one day and when I knocked she quickly answered the door. It was an interesting feeling because we had never met in person before so I was really torn about whether I should have said "Hi I'm Nolan, nice to meet you". That awkwardness was gone when she took a picture of my license plate to send to her mom as a joke. Nicole: So continuing with my not so "normal" first date habits, I ordered a hamburger for dinner. But the best part is, he asked me if I wanted NACHOS!! (Okay I think that's when I fell in love!) Anyways, we talked for hours and I knew right away this guy was something else. However, the brat didn't kiss me goodnight, so I was a little skeptical. Nolan: You know when a girl is comfortable getting wine, a burger and is down to share nachos that she's a pretty awesome girl! Conversation was easy the whole time we were out but it was a school night so we had to get back. I could tell she was kind of upset that I didn't kiss her but that was on purpose, had to leave it for the next date! (I was actually just nervous and I knew that she was seeing my mom the next day at work...awkward).

So we won't bore you with another long story about how awesome we are... we are going to skip to the proposal! Nicole: But, since my lovely fiancé did not leave me any room to write in the next story, I just want to give you the background before the proposal. Basically I knew I wanted to marry him, since probably 6 months into dating. It was solidified during our second anniversary. We were walking back to the hotel from a Kings game and he started dancing with me under my favorite type of lights. So from then on I started "Hinting" at marriage..but this guy just takes his dear sweet time ;*

Nolan: Similar to how I first reached out to Nicole, the proposal had to be on my terms. There were several instances where everybody, including Nicole, thought I was going to propose but I didn't want it to be super obvious! Nicole: *eyeroll* Nolan: Thanksgiving was always my favorite holiday for two reasons: the food and the family traditions! When Nicole didn't share that same feeling for my favorite holiday I had figured I'd give her a reason to love it. I was going to propose on Thanksgiving. The day before Thanksgiving, Nicole and I woke up like any regular day and I left for "work". I had taken the day off, but Nicole didn't need to know that. I left for "work" at my regular time but it was still early so I killed some time at a Starbucks browsed Nicole's Pinterest page to solidify my idea of the ring she wanted. I then went to my parents house to talk to them about it and let them know what was happening. I then drove out to Riverside to ask Nicole's dad for permission to ask Nicole to marry me. I was so nervous, I'm sure I was stumbling over words. By now I'm sure you know he gave me his permission then it was on to ring shopping with the help of my mom. At this point, only three others knew of my plans (my parents and Nicole's dad). The first ring I saw that day ended up being the one that is currently on Nicole's hand, I went to every store but that was the one. We had an Ontario Reign game that night and the ring was hidden in my backpack in the car. I was so nervous that she would find the ring but the secret was safe through the night! The next morning I woke up to go get us Starbucks and I had told Nicole that if she was a nice girl I would bring her back a surprise. I bought a ceramic Starbucks ornament, another memento to remember the day. I got home and said since you were nice, I got you this (coffee), and this (teddy bear), and this (ornament), and this...I pulled out the ring and asked the question: Will you marry me? Nicole: I SAID YES!

Now here we are, asking you to join us in creating our next story, our Wedding Day! Please take a look around the website and do yourself a favor and RSVP for the best day ever! We look forward to making memories with you on March 23, 2018!